Conventionally, this type of clip is called a GEM clip, and the shape thereof is described in, for example, Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. H-4-67082 (Patent Document 1).
FIG. 2, FIG. 4 FIG. 6 and FIG. 8 are plan views (A) and front elevational views (B) of a prior art profile of a clip.
As shown in these drawings, by bending a single wire or a single wire material, prior art clip 200, 400, 600 or 800 inwardly has first bend section 210, 410, 610 or 810 formed as a relatively smaller loop-shaped annular section at one side in the longitudinal direction thereof and has second bend section 220, 420, 620, or 820 formed as a relatively larger loop-shaped annular section, while outwardly having a loop-shaped connection sections 270, 470, 670 or 870 at the other side in the longitudinal direction thereof. The prior art clip 200, 400, 600 or 800 has a flat shape as the entirety, and as shown in the respective drawings (B), the respective bend sections and connection sections are molded so as to be positioned almost at the same plane.
With a prior art clip having such a shape, the clip is used to fix a plurality of sheets in such a manner that a relatively large second bend section 220, 420, 620 or 820 is pressed to the surface of documents while a relatively small first bend section 210, 410, 610 or 810 is pressed and widened by fingertips, and after sheets are placed between the first bend section 210, 410, 610 or 810 and the second bend section 220, 420, 620 or 820 and the clip is moved along the surface of the sheets, the connection section 270, 470, 670 or 870 is fastened with the side of a plurality of sheets.